Global blockchain payments provider BitPay has hired Eden Doniger as general counsel and chief compliance officer. She is the Atlanta-based firm's first top lawyer. 

A privacy and cybersecurity expert, Doniger most recently served as assistant general counsel for Cox Enterprises Inc., a global conglomerate that's also headquartered in Atlanta. She initially helped manage litigation and legal disputes before she began overseeing the firm's privacy programs and serving on its compliance team. 

Doniger said in an interview Friday that she left Cox to work in the burgeoning blockchain industry's challenging compliance landscape. BitPay's clients include AT&T Inc. and Microsoft Corp., and the firm processes more than $1 billion in blockchain payments globally. 

"We're seeing a huge opportunity right now to make the use of blockchain payments accessible, efficient and easy for a variety of different customers. We're the only blockchain company that has a Visa-branded debit card and we're on the verge of rolling out a whole new debit card program in Europe," Doniger said. 

She added, "We need to continue to make sure that we're at the forefront of compliance across all of our products. I think what sets us apart from many other companies that are trying to get into this space is we do that, we care deeply about it and it's part of our mission."

BitPay CEO and co-founder Stephen Pair said in a prepared statement that Doniger will "guide BitPay as we continue to grow as the largest global blockchain payments provider, and as the legal and regulatory landscape in the U.S. and abroad continues to evolve as well."

Doniger also acknowledged that she was attracted to the GC position at BitPay because it included C-suite membership as CCO. 

"I think it's critical. You've gotta have your legal counsel at the seat of the table as you strategize that growth, as you build compliance into all of your products and processes," she said. "If that person is not sitting at that table at every discussion about what products we're going to roll out, what our developers are working on, how we're going to interact with regulators, it's not going to work."

A graduate of the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Doniger began her legal career in 2003 as an associate at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler. She moved to an associate position at Dow Lohnes, which later merged with Cooley, before becoming a partner in the Atlanta office of FisherBroyles.

She also had a stint as an adjunct professor at Georgia State University and started her own firm, Doniger Legal Counsel, which provided support services to in-house counsel of large and midsize corporations, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

Doniger said she is part of a growing number of women in the Atlanta area who are taking on executive positions, especially in the tech industry. 

"There's so much potential there," she added. "We're starting, as women, to make a mark and find leadership roles. It's very exciting to see that."